Domestic Responses to International Pressure:

Abstract

International pressures on authoritarian regimes to respect human rights are increasingly common yet their impact is relatively unknown and hotly debated. Recent studies suggest that international pressures can have a limited yet important effect when they strengthen and reinforce favorable domestic processes. I identify three domestic conditions conducive to a limited impact — low costs of easing repression; responsive regime factions; and relatively strong societal human rights norms. In a case study of Chile from 1973 to 1980, I find that extensive international pressures and a soft-line faction combined to alter the political strategy of the authoritarian regime in ways not foreseen or intended by international actors. The research suggests that scholars should more carefully consider the normative dimensions of international pressures and their role in undermining the legitimacy of domestic regimes.